Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Swimming Sushi.

Do you love sushi -that healthy stuff from Japan- as much as I do?
Then you have to face the same problem I have:

Tuna is completely over-fished and salmon is usually farmed under industrial, environment-hostile conditions. Also most other sea-food ingredients are usually from problematic sources – hardly any of them being sustainable. In addition, the frozen fish, transported by cargo-airplanes leaves a double carbon-footprint: freezing and transportation. So if you want to consume ethically, you have to refrain from sushi as they are served or sold in most places.

The interdisciplinary performing arts unit post theater has created a series of performances about the cultural history of fish-consumption, “Fish-Tales”. As part of their research, they traveled to Denmark, Iceland and Japan, to learn more about fish. Art can raise awareness, but the artists of post theater wanted to offer also a solution for the problem. Hence, they opened their installation/restaurant nekkko that serves sustainable sushi.

All major ingredients are as regionally and seasonally shopped as possible and most ingredients are certified organic. There are also vegetarian (V) and vegan (VV) variations in the mouthwatering menue (Berlin-Brandenburg). In order to reduce the friction, noise and energy of the typical conveyer-belt system of running sushi, post theater replaces it with a miniature water canal. In it, wooden rafts in the shape of a boat or fish float in a circle, carrying the sushi to the diners. Some examples of what might float by:

nekkko is a pop-up restaurant, so if you want to try it - check out the dates. And you know what? If you cannot get enough of it - learn how to make it for yourself, either in one of the workshops, or with the book soon to be published.

Now: who's coming with me on september 18th - workshop and dinner??
Update: I was there - it was marvellous. delicious. soon to repeat.